NBA: 5 players that desperately need a fresh start

Elfrid Payton

The Orlando Magic drafted Payton with the 10th pick in the 2014 NBA Draft during a span when the organization refused to select any players that could shoot the ball at all. Well, this season Orlando is off to a good start for the first time in Payton’s tenure with the team; the only problem is that he has not really been a part of it, as the point guard has missed all but two games this season with a hamstring injury.

Payton is still a bad shooter, evidenced by his 29.1 percent career mark from 3-point range, but he remains an intriguing young player. He’s had an odd habit of stringing together impressive performances down the stretch of the last two seasons, always after Orlando had fallen out of playoff contention. It’s hard to know what to make of that trend, but Payton is the Magic franchise leader in career triple-doubles, whatever that’s worth.

Payton feels like the kind of player that could thrive in a new environment. If he’s asked to penetrate and facilitate in an offense full of shooters, while playing the lock-down on-ball defense he’s capable of on the other end, he could conceivably thrive. Of course, Orlando may overvalue him and make him difficult to move, but Evan Fournier has played well in his stead and GM John Hammond is not the executive that drafted Payton.

The Phoenix Suns look like a team that could be a good fit for Payton, as they lack a point guard of the future on their young roster, though his bad habits may simply be exacerbated without a solid group of veterans and an established coach in place. Indiana might be a team that would show interest in Payton, though he may have to accept coming off the bench for a while.